The Auror
by Romula1
Summary: Harry Potter fanfic about an Auror brought in during Harry's 5th year who is suffering from 'voluntary amnesia,' and there's some odd secret in her past about Remus Lupin, who is also back for the 5th year. Please r+r!! All chapters up!
1. Chapter 1

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The crowds of students milled around the shining steam engine, reluctant parents still clinging to them. The steady trickle of pupils who managed to get aboard hurried to secure their own cabins.  
A group of tall, red haired children who were having trouble escaping their fussing mother were approached by a skinny boy with messy black hair and round glasses, behind which shone a pair of emerald green eyes. A short, wild-looking girl followed him, her dark eyes bright with excitement.  
The mother engulfed them into her hug when she saw them, then shooed the whole group of them away, waving goodbye.  
In the shadows at the back of the platform, the Auror watched everything with full alertness. As the final group boarded the train, she gathered her heavy velvet robes and glided out from her cover, crossing the large platform in only a few long strides. She stepped onto the carpeted floor of the Hogwarts Express and memories came flooding back to her. She did not sway though, nor did she show any sign of having been on this very train before. She was impassive, noncommittal, and above all, she never showed her emotions. She did what was required of her and she did it with spot-on, cold efficiency.  
The warm lighting inside the train brought out shimmers of other colours in the black cloak and hood that were drawn up close around her, and the blue silk of her practical - yet smart - trousers sent glitters of light dancing over the walls of the corridor.  
Every compartment appeared to be full, but the Auror did not get impatient, she just carried on down the aisle. Finally she came to a room that she thought to be empty. Sliding the door open, she saw that she was mistaken - it did not trouble her, that had happened before - but the expression of the skinny black-haired boy with glasses did trouble her.  
Harry thought that the Dementors had been brought back for some obscure reason, and reached desperately for his wand, scrabbling one hand across the seat. Ron had given a gasp of shock, and was also going for his wand. Hermione, though, retained her senses. "Hello. Can we help you?"  
The Auror shook her hooded head once, then slid the door back, more unwanted memories invading her head. He looks so much like James... The next compartment was empty, however, so she slipped inside, and huddled into a window seat, glaring at the land that blurred past her line of sight.  
She had barely driven the demons back when there was a click at the door. She jerked her head, and looked quickly up at the baggage rack - how could she have been so stupid! Cursing her past for distracting her, the Auror tugged her hood closer around her face, and waited for the person on the other side of the door to finish talking and come into the compartment that they had already claimed as their own.  
When the door finally opened, the Auror wondered if her whole set of duties at Hogwarts this term were just someone's idea of a joke. She stared with invisible eyes at the man who had just entered the compartment. She stared at him as if just doing that could make him go away, go back to the part of her she could ignore, not to appear somewhere she was sure to meet him so often.  
He peered into her cowl as he closed the door, he was still smiling and a flicker was beginning in his eyes. The Auror did not like that flicker. She raised her invisible chin, and her invisible expression was daring him to remember her.  
He finally found his voice. "Hello. I'm guessing you're Dumbledore's new Auror?"  
She now narrowed those invisible eyes, and nodded briskly, annoyed by his deviating tactics. He smiled and sat down opposite her, the profoundly dark grey eyes flitting over her, measuring her up, comparing his idea of an Auror to Dumbledore's idea. "I'm Remus Lupin, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year at Hogwarts." He held his hand out.  
Her invisible lip curled. How ironic. But she extended her hand anyway, nodding once again.  
His eyes fell upon her hand as it clasped his, and she was satisfied to note a slight widening of them. He looked up again at her and asked shrewdly, "If you don't mind me asking - where did you get that scar?"  
She gave a harsh shout of laughter inside her head, but she finally opened her invisible mouth, and whispered, "curse," through an invisible wry grin.  
His lips pressed together as though he'd have liked to say something else, but instead, he just looked into her hood, his eyes having surprising accuracy at pin-pointing the area her eyes were - invisible or not. The Auror felt a slight flash of worry and she wondered if it gave him the abilities to see better through the shadows that the hood cast across her hidden profile. She couldn't control the shiver that time, the barrage of old scenes playing through her head at breakneck speed.  
The Forest...she was chasing it, catching up on it...nearly there...there. It was what she had most feared, but he had to be avenged...she had to do something...  
The Auror gasped, inadvertently tightening her grip on his hand. She drew back, and drew into herself, back to the safety, less pain, less emotion. He frowned at her reaction, leaning forward in concern.  
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine."  
He said nothing more, but seemed to be lost in thought for the rest of the journey, considering bleak possibilities. The Auror, however, considered nothing. Thought nothing. At least, she fought to think nothing. Like stills from a Muggle movie, clips of that night echoed and danced in front of her view, tormenting her, and mocking her.  
When the train finally pulled up at Hogsmeade station, it was with relief that the Auror fairly fled from the compartment, and curled up into a corner of the first carriage available. Keeping a wary eye on her surroundings, she also managed to scare off any student approaching her. None of them, it seemed, had any desire to share the short trip with a mysterious creature whose black robes resembled a Dementor's so closely.  
  
* * *  
  
The Great Hall was a warm and welcoming area, even to the Auror, who was still trying to suppress her memories. The candles shone brightly, and gave a golden glow to everything in the room; the humming and buzzing sound of excited children discussing plans for the new term - and fond memories of holidays - rose right up to the enchanted ceiling.  
Albus Dumbledore stood to address the mass of people, and the Auror looked up at him as he glanced across everyone in the room, wondering why, oh why did he ever choose her. There were so many other Aurors, who didn't have such a convoluted history at Hogwarts, and were far better at their jobs than she. So why was she here?  
Dumbledore was seemingly unaware of her troubled thoughts, though, as he directed his twinkling eyes on each student and staff member in turn. "Good evening. And welcome to Hogwarts, all of you. As usual, I shall make my announcements short, but I would first like to address a special issue this term." The recently sorted first-years looked up at Dumbledore with a mixture of apprehension and reverence, their round faces gleaming in the candlelight. "Due to the... inadequacy of last year's Auror, I have hand- picked a lady whom I consider to be perfect for the job. She will only be taking one lesson a month for each of you, as Professor Lupin, who I am extremely glad to have back, will be unable to teach at certain times, as I am sure you are all aware.  
"At all other times, Miss Winters will be patrolling corridors, stair- ways and grounds, rather like Mr. Filch does," there were a few groans at that. "And she will see that you are dealt with in suitable fashion if she catches any of you out of line. Is there anything that you would like to add, Miss Winters?"  
The Auror blushed under her hood, and composed herself sufficiently to say, "No, thank you, Headmaster."  
"Well, then. That is all...except that I do want you to remember that she is here for protection of everyone, not for the amusement of some." Then Dumbledore spread his arms wide and smiled broadly. "Let the feast begin."  
  
* * *  
  
The Auror soon discovered what the Headmaster had meant by his last comment, regarding amusement. One of the first lessons she had to take was with fifth year Slytherins. As she entered the room, before she had said a single word, a lean boy with shining, slicked back blonde hair said with a smirk, "Are we finally going to be taught about werewolves today? Professor Lupin has been putting it off for ages but it is an essential part of our coursework towards our O.W.L.s."  
The Auror turned to him in surprise. "Excuse me. The lesson has begun, and I was under the impression that as a teacher, I should be the one asking the questions and making the sarcastic remarks. As a matter of fact, though, yes. You will be studying werewolves in my lessons, and I don't care what your textbooks say, I don't want to hear any childish comments about Professor Lupin. Or any others you may know who are unfortunate enough to have the same...problem." That seemed to stun them into silence for a moment...it even shocked the Auror. Glad of her control and hoping it lasted, she got out the register book from her tattered old rucksack.  
Scrolling down the names, she almost lost that precious control when her eyes fell upon 'Malfoy, Draco'. Already alarmed by the sight of Crabbe and Goyle's sons' names, she couldn't believe that the son of Lucius Malfoy had been given a place at Hogwarts.  
"D...Draco...Malfoy..." She ground out from between gritted teeth.  
The blonde boy sneered at her hesitation. "Present, Miss."  
Scowling at them from under her ever-present hood, the Auror knew from that moment that this would be her least-favourite class.  
  
* * *  
  
Her other classes that day went much more smoothly, however. The additional fifth years that she taught were far more agreeable, the Hufflepuffs copying every one of her words down, and even managing some sympathetic grimaces at the textbook's descriptions of the werewolf curse. The Gryffindors were in general quite quiet and reserved, being used to letting Hermione Granger answer all the questions for them. But the Auror especially enjoyed teaching those from her old house. The Ravenclaw fifth years were so eager to learn and listen, yet they also joked and questioned. It made her remember the lesson her class had received on werewolves, and how different the class of '78 had been compared to all other classes that Hogwarts had ever seen.  
  
~~~ Their year had always been an unusual one. Of course, there were still the bullies and the heroes, but there weren't many...intellectuals in their year. Ravenclaw lost out greatly in the sorting, with only two first years joining that house. But the Sorting Hat had decided, and its decision was final.  
So little Charles Cookson and Sephine Winters were put into the same timetable as the Gryffindor first years. Their continuous wit and wisecracking never seemed to get on the teachers' nerves, like others' did.  
Sephy and Cookie were giggling especially loudly one History of Magic lesson, and Professor Binns noticed. It had been years since he had heard laughter in his lessons.  
"Miss Winters do you find something I am saying amusing?"  
"No sir."  
"Well then, you must have been listening to what I have been saying. Please repeat it."  
Some of the Gryffindors sniggered. Maybe finally one of the 'arrogant two' would get their comeuppance.  
But they were to be disappointed. " 'In the March of 1286 the goblin leaders gathered in the Valley of Eoch in Northern Scotland to discuss plans of rebellion. Morin the Malevolent headed the meeting...Miss Winters do you find something I am saying amusing?' " And to top it off she even got Binns' voice right.  
The ghost looked slightly ruffled, and most put out at having been denied the opportunity to punish Sephine. "So. You do listen. Very well then." And with that he slipped back into his incessant droning, whilst all looked on the Ravenclaw girl with awe.  
Sirius Black had turned round from the row in front of the pair of Ravenclaws and asked incredulously, "How on earth did you do that?!"  
"He' s just memorised the text book." She answered matter-of-factly, pointing out the paragraph. "Look. Right there."  
"Jeez..." Those around her laughed at her mischievous grin, and soon began to learn how to combat the boredom of Binns' lessons with the Ravenclaws' help.  
  
By the time their year had reached the fourth grade, although still remaining true to their house personalities, Sephine and Charlie had learnt to compliment the winning team of James Potter and Sirius Black by joining in their antics.  
Defence Against the Dark Arts was usually a lesson in which they indulged in some quality prank-planning, but when Professor Ascentus announced the page number for the day's lesson, it was revealed to be about one of the most advanced forms of Dark Creatures. James, Sirius, Lily and Peter's faces fell. All glanced at Remus, who had turned an unhealthy shade of white.  
"...So, I was thinking, if we used that slug-thing on Snape, then...hey, what's with you guys? I though we were planning our revenge today? C'mon, you don't think them wolves in the Forbidden Forest are gonna come and getcha, do you?"  
Even Sephine had picked up on the expressions that the Marauders wore, and she had deducted that it would be wise not ask, and wiser not to know. Scowling, she nudged Cookie in the ribs and shook her head in warning.  
"What? I mean, it's not like there's anything to worry about here! Is there?" Charlie made a mock-suspicious glance at Ascentus and gasped in 'horror'. "My God... I should have guessed, Sir!"  
But he exclaimed a little too loudly. "Mr. Cookson? You should have guessed that werewolves only transform in the light of the full moon? Well, yes, you should have guessed that. Now would you care to tell me anything else you 'should have guessed'?" Ascentus looked down at Charlie over his half round glasses, waiting for an answer. Charlie pretended not to see this look and began mock-frantic scribbling at his roll of parchment.  
Ascentus cleared his throat. "Mr. Cookson?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Are you going to answer my question?"  
"Oh, sorry. I thought it was a rhetorical one. Yeah. I should have guessed that you'd have heard me say that, cause I can never keep my big gob shut?"  
"Pull in the claws; you're only hurting yourself, Charlie." Ascentus snorted, and picked up his textbook once more, adjusting his spectacles. "'The werewolf curse is a particularly nasty curse, as the bearer of it has no control over his or her actions when in wolf form. No matter how much one may only want to do good, or only have a pure heart and innocent wishes, the wolf will embody all opposites of your true self. There are as yet no known cures for the curse, but many of our top alchemists are working towards ways of reducing the suffering on all parts.' Can any of you tell me, please, some of the disadvantages that one with the werewolf curse would face in our society today?"  
Silence reigned. Not even James or Sirius seemed to know the answer. Lily was more interested in her table than her textbook for once, and Remus Lupin looked like he had been dipped in talcum powder. As he began to shakily raise his hand, Sephine practically leapt out of her chair, hand stretched high above her head. "Ooh! Ooh, Sir! I know!" Everyone looked at her, astonished. But then she scrambled out into the aisle down the centre of the classroom, a grin trying to work its way onto her face. "But I can't tell you now, because I really need to get to the toilet! And I think Remus does too...or else he may puke on Lily's notes!"  
Over the gales of laughter, Sephine saw the boy's surprised expression. He frowned at her in question and mouthed "What?" But Ascentus interrupted the noise of the students. "I think that that would be an excellent idea, Miss Winters, as it's obvious that Miss Evans has put a great amount of effort into her notes. Off you go then. And stop dancing, child!"  
Sephine pretended to rush from the room in a fit of desperation, but as soon as the door closed, she waited around the corner for Remus to emerge, a look of...panic? upon his pale face.  
He stopped opposite her, apprehension and suspicion plain on his features. "What did you do that for?"  
"I already said, didn't I? You looked about ready to let loose over the table, so I thought I'd try and save us all the hassle."  
Very clearly unconvinced, Remus nodded slowly. "Right. Thanks. Do I really look that bad?"  
She grinned playfully. "No worse than usual, honey." And flounced off down the corridor, leaving an only slightly mollified Remus Lupin staring after her in wonder. ~~~  
  
That had been when the Auror should have first guessed. She should have known from that lesson, that conversation, and her friend's monthly absences. But she had been too preoccupied with her own intelligence. She had been too self-absorbed to put together clues that the others had put together way back in the second year. And it had cost her more than she was willing to remember.  
She sighed, and felt her shoulders slump wearily as she leant forwards on the desk. A hurried march in the corridor made her look up, though, as a billowing set of black robes strode past. The Auror frowned, reaching inside her pocket and floundering for the piece of paper that was ever present there. As she studied it and worked out who had just passed her office in such a fury, she felt another set of memories tickling at her consciousness.  
  
~~~ She stumbled out of the hospital, padding quietly down the corridor. All was quiet this late at night.  
She was surprised to find that it didn't pain her, there was just an odd tingling in her fingers...as though they were almost numb...but not quite. The blood trickling into her palms cooled down the heat that had accumulated there since last night, and the black spots clouded the vision that had been all too clear since last night.  
The balcony in front of her swayed and rocked in and out of focus. She smiled, amused at the comical appearance of her surroundings. As the balcony drew nearer, beckoning her, a confident and yet oddly nervous stride made her turn her head slightly. On seeing who was approaching, she groaned and made for the balcony with doubled determination.  
"Sephine! Stop it!" As he reached out to grab her wrist, his hand drew back just as quickly, and he stared at the shiny red liquid that now coated his palm too. "What on earth do you think you're doing?!" His normally deep, menacing voice had risen in pitch considerably.  
She sneered at him, trying to move away. He couldn't understand. Stupid, lousy, traitorous Death Eater that he was. "'rrroff." the words came out slurred, and she swayed dangerously towards the balcony.  
He swore under his breath, then grabbed her wrist again and hauled her after him, back towards the hospital.  
"No." She managed to protest. "Don' wannoo." But he was far stronger than she in this state, and she almost managed to feel guilty at seeing Madam Pomfrey's horrified expression. Then she saw Severus' disgusted expression and she remembered why she'd done it. But, unfortunately for her plans of revenge, the world went black half way to the cold stone floor. ~~~  
  
The Auror glanced down at her scarred wrists and frowned in thought. The state she had reached that day had been the ultimate in depression. No longer having any desire to see the next day. But Severus had stopped her. Why? He had never shown any liking to her. In fact he pretty much loathed her for her help in the Marauders' pranks. So why?  
She sighed and put the piece of paper away. When she left her room she intended to find Snape and ask him, but as she walked up the second flight of stairs her attention began to wander. Soon she found herself just walking up all the staircases - to the top, or as high as one could go. The 3rd floor wasn't much different from the others, but a small, quiet room at the end of the corridor caught the Auror's attention. Moving towards it she began to see that a very faint metallic glow emanated from it. She peered around the doorway and gasped in joy at seeing all the old house trophies again.  
Grinning like a kid again, she moved from cabinet to cabinet, reliving everything from point-gaining Quidditch matches to point-gobbling detentions and pranks. The Quidditch cabinet held a plaque for each team combination Hogwarts had seen, and the Auror spent a long time searching for the ones she yearned to see again.  
Finally, finding the plaques for the year she wanted, she sat down slowly on the cold stone floor.  
RAVENCLAW QUIDDITCH TEAM  
1976  
Keeper: Sephine Winters  
Chaser: Delana Santoas  
Chaser: Rory Oldran  
  
Chaser: Kevin Gramdor  
Beater: Tai Chang  
Beater: Sally Torin  
  
Seeker: Charles Cookson  
The Auror snorted to herself as she remembered how close the last match of that year had been. Another shining plaque next to the Ravenclaw one interested her:  
GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM  
1976  
Keeper: Johnathan Sandley  
Chaser: Sirius Black  
Chaser: Remus Lupin  
  
Chaser: Paul Fevner  
Beater: Carmichael Holmes  
Beater: Florence Koft  
  
Seeker: James Potter  
The Auror shook her head in disgust, remembering that match. But she let herself remember it. Anyone who knew of it wouldn't hasten to forget it. It had been so unheard of that a Chaser would catch the Snitch, even accidentally. And it had been a while before Madam Hooch would give in and drop the idea of a rematch.  
  
~~~  
"AND THOSE GRYFFINDOR CHASERS ARE STREAKING UP THE PITCH! LOOK AT THE TEAMWORK! THEY SEEM TO READ EACH OTHERS' MINDS! WILL THEY FINALLY STRIKE BACK AGAINST THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF THE RAVENCLAWS?" The commentator, Terry Jordan was practically jumping up and down on his stand with the excitement of it all. And he had good reason to - the Gryffindor Chasers were regarded as one of the best teams Hogwarts had ever seen, but so far this game Gryffindor has scored nothing.  
The three Chasers shot towards the Ravenclaw Keeper, who watched as the boy in the centre passed the Quaffle to the boy on his left, dodging the Bludger that had been heading for him.  
Remus Lupin grinned at Sephine Winters as he rocketed towards the goal she guarded. Intending to get past her before releasing the ball, he swerved left and right to try and confuse her. However, she remained perfectly still - watching him approach with an amused expression.  
Finally deciding to go for it, Remus zoomed to her right, desperate to get past her.  
Sephine moved faster than he could have guessed, though, and before he knew it, she had taken off towards the other end of the pitch, Quaffle under arm, throwing a wink back at him. She weaved between Beaters and Chasers, showing off to the crowds as she fooled the Gryffindor Keeper, too, hurling the Quaffle with all her might through the hoop.  
"UNBELIEVABLE! THAT CAN'T BE ALLOWED! OUTRAGEOUS!" Jordan raged and roared, even the new Head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall, looked especially sour. But the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, merely smiled as Madam Hooch pondered over a rulebook. Finally, she looked up and nodded reluctantly.  
"Yes, that's allowed."  
"WHAT?!" Jordan nearly lost his balance as he leaned forwards. "INTOLERABLE! ABOMINABLE! SCANDALOUS! DISGRACEFUL! ATROCIOUS!" McGonagall finally turned towards him and warned, "Jordan, have you been employed to act as a thesaurus or a commentator?"  
"Yes, Professor, sorry, Professor. THE SCORE IS NOW RAVENCLAW 140 POINTS, AND GRYFFINDOR 30!! COME ON YOU REDS! YOU'D BETTER SCORE A FEW, AND SOON, OR ELSE IT WILL ALL BE UP TO LITTLE JAMES POTTER TO GET THAT SNITCH BEFORE RAVENCLAW SCORE ANY MORE!"  
Almost all the players on the pitch took that statement of Terry Jordan's completely personally. In fact, almost everyone in the stadium took it personally. To all it was a challenge, waiting to be contested.  
The Gryffindor Chasers huddled tight, beginning another run on the closely guarded hoop at the Ravenclaw end of the pitch. Sephine was still enjoying herself immensely, and the more enjoyed she became, the more relaxed her movements became...more relaxed into the speed needed to guard a Quidditch goal...  
As she saved the Quaffle and began her next attack on the Gryffindor goal, the two Seekers, from opposite ends of the pitch, came to life, and hurtled towards a point mid-way between the goals. Each one was apparently unaware of the other as they both had eyes only for the golden ball floating in wait for them.  
Even Sephine slowed her crazy pace to a standstill as she realised that they wouldn't be able to dodge one another in time. "Prongs! Cookie!" She shouted, trying to snap them out of it. Remus and Sirius saw it too, and both made their way to the spot where James and Charlie were about to crash.  
Sirius hovered beneath them, looking up out of a windswept black mop, and shouting in futility at his friends. Remus circled them, unsure of what to do. The Snitch didn't move.  
The entire arena went deathly quiet as James and Charlie collided head-on with a loud 'tock!' The Snitch stopped fluttering, its delicate wings hanging at odd angles...and fell straight into Gryffindor Chaser, Sirius Black's lap. The Seekers, meanwhile, hovered a few feet apart, rubbing their heads and cursing the Snitch for leaving little round dents in each of their foreheads.  
If possible, the crowd had gone even quieter. All waited for Madam Hooch to announce what this meant. She flicked to and fro through the pocket rulebook she carried in her robes at all times, and examined the broken Snitch closely. Eventually, she regarded the crowd and teams with an uncompromising expression. "For that example of Snitchnip five penalty shots will be awarded to Ravenclaw." The Gryffindor crowds groaned in unison. Hooch blew her whistle sharply for silence. "Enough! Those are the rules! Gryffindors: all but the Keeper, down at the Ravenclaw goal please with the Ravenclaw Keeper, Seeker and Beaters. Ravenclaw Chasers - pick one person to take the shots."  
Kevin Gramdor stayed opposite Jonathan Sandley, whilst Rory Oldran and Delana Santoas flew away from them, wishing Kevin good luck.  
The stands were completely silent as Kevin fidgeted on his broom, Quaffle in hand. Finally he made a quick surge forwards before hurling the red ball as hard as he could towards the goal. His nerves must have been affecting him worse than it seemed - the Quaffle missed by a couple of meters and Jonathan seemed to sag a little on his broom in relief.  
The second penalty was saved, the third missed again, but the fourth and fifth hit their target. Ravenclaw left the pitch that day triumphant - winning by 160 points to 30. ~~~  
  
The Auror laughed quietly at the memory of that match and the time after it. She had laughed then too - albeit not so quietly. Never took anything seriously. The amount of trouble she had given James, Cookie and Sirius for it though...They'd had those Snitch-impressions in their foreheads for almost the last two weeks of term; not even Madam Pomfrey could do much about them. And Sirius...well he'd actually been quite embarrassed behind that elaborate facade of arrogance. He'd never asked for the Snitch to fall on him! Of course, you rarely get what you ask for, often get what you don't ask for. The Auror reflected, pondering the gleaming gold of the trophy.  
How long she sat there she didn't know, but lost track of time, and finally allowed herself to drift through some long-forgotten memories. Only innocent ones, though. She was fed up of ones of the other sort. Eventually, as the trophies achieved an eerie sliver-blue light from the cold winter sky appearing through the high windows, she shivered, and left the warm memories with the warm light. Becoming cold and efficient once more with the cold light...she hoped.  
  
* * * 


	2. Chapter 2

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The Auror prowled the corridors as ordered whilst all day toying with the idea of confronting at least one of those personified memories that walked the castle. She headed for the dungeons, the thought of setting her mind at rest about Snape first pricking at her conscience. But when she saw fifth year Neville Longbottom race down the corridor, covered in a horrible smelling pink substance, she changed her mind and returned to the higher floors. As she passed the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, she could hear that calm voice explaining the habits of mountain trolls to an enraptured class. She may have been irritated by his calmness had she not spent the night remembering happier times. As it was, she couldn't bring herself to interrupt the class' obvious interest in what Lupin was saying...or maybe just how he was saying it.  
Finally, the Auror reached a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle. She regarded it apprehensively. Fiddling with the piece of paper from her pocket again, she took note of something it showed her, and brought her wand out.  
With one tap on the nose of the gargoyle, and a simple but little known revealing spell, letters began carving and uncarving themselves onto the stone creature's forehead. SUGAR QUILL they read.  
"Ah-ha." The Auror smiled and stepped back as the letters disappeared. "Sugar quill." The gargoyle jumped aside and the wall opened, revealing a staircase that glided slowly upwards, revolving noiselessly, despite being made of heavy chunks of green granite.  
As she reached the top, the Auror hesitated before knocking. She didn't know if she really wanted this conversation...or if she just thought she did. But before she could turn around and go back down the stairs, Albus Dumbledore's voice hailed her from behind the heavy oak door. "Come in, Sephine. I've been wondering when you'd turn up..."  
Cursing her own foolishness, the Auror opened the door with a wry smile. Dumbledore smiled warmly back, his eyes twinkling brightly at her from behind his spectacles. "Fawkes certainly knows you're here, and keeps making it plain to me that he misses the occasional chat with another phoenix."  
The Auror laughed lightly, and held out an arm as the beautiful bird swept across the circular room, a blaze of living flame. It wasn't known to many that she was an Animagus, but she had been for a very long time. In Ireland - where she had grown up with the travelling entertainers - she remembered her parents giving her hints and tips about the Animagus spell all the time, finally, at the age of 10 encouraging her to attempt it for herself.  
It was practically unheard of that a witch or wizard should transform into a magical creature, and especially not that a ten-year-old Irish gypsy should. Dumbledore, as a relatively new headmaster, had leapt at the chance to have a child with so much potential at Hogwarts. The Auror had been allowed a lot of time to just spend her time as a phoenix and converse with Fawkes, who had been very interesting, if not easy to understand.  
"Now, Sephine, what is it that you need to ask?" Dumbledore's question brought her back to the present with an unpleasant slide of guilt.  
"Oh. I--" She had been about to say that it was nothing and did not matter when he interrupted.  
"I know what you want to know. I also know that you crave answers. Ask me questions, Sephine, and you shall get as many answers as you request." He regarded her with a level gaze, the youthful-looking blue eyes pinning her to the spot.  
Finally she sighed. "I...I just want to know why me. Why you picked me to come here. Especially after all...my past here. Wouldn't it have been simpler to choose someone who wouldn't be so...distracted by their surroundings?"  
Dumbledore's smile came back. "Ah yes... you feel this must be some sort of a joke on my part, bringing you to Hogwarts at the same time as having Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape here?" Before she could comment on this display of unnerving perception he held up one hand for silence. "No Sephine. I'm not having a little joke. It is a method of killing five birds with one stone."  
Unable to help it, she shook her head. "Huh? Five?"  
"Yes, five. You don't think you are the only one with unpleasant memories of that night do you? I have brought you four adults together again, to talk it through like adults. And as you have probably guessed by now, neither Severus, Sirius, nor Remus has any idea that it is you yet. I leave it up to you to choose the correct time to reveal yourself to them and discuss what needs discussing."  
The Auror sat speechless for a few moments, gathering her thoughts together once more. "Who's the fifth bird?"  
At this Dumbledore gave a little laugh. "The fifth bird is the Auror that I would have had to get this year anyway due to all this new trouble with Voldemort."  
  
* * *  
  
The Auror tried not to dwell on what Dumbledore had said before their long conversation on the Dark Lord. She might have had complained that there wasn't anything that needed to be talked about, but his stressing on the word 'adult' had convinced her to keep her mouth shut for once.  
As she rode the updraughts high over the Quidditch pitch, Fawkes slightly above and ahead of her, she felt her head and thoughts clear, and she realised just how much she needed to talk to those people. No matter how awkward it would be, or how emotional, or how painful. It had to be done.  
As her mind warmed to the idea and she began to imagine the situations, the thought of it didn't seem quite so bad, in fact, as she descended towards the castle - magnificent below - she became quite eager for it to happen.  
Transforming in mid-air as she approached the roof, the Auror jumped lightly to the stone surface, waving farewell to Fawkes as she went down the staircase open to her. From determination and decision at the top of the stairs, the rational mind the phoenix gave her flew away, once more leaving her a mass of indecision and confusion at the bottom of the stairs.  
She stalked along the lunch-time corridors of Hogwarts, a menacing presence amongst the crowd of happy students, only stopping once, to break up a row involving some of her least favourite people, and some of her favourites.  
Draco Malfoy was brandishing a rolled up copy of The Daily Prophet at a tiny owl that whizzed incessantly around his head. "Shoo! Shoo, you stupid creature! Weasley, call this thing off now!"  
Ron Weasly and Harry Potter were in fits of laughter despite Crabbe and Goyle's menacing glares and muscle-flexings. Even Hermione Granger was smiling at Malfoy's frustration. Between tears of laughter, Ron managed to say, "What's wrong, Malfoy? Can't handle that tiny thing? Pathetic, truly pathetic!"  
But eventually, the newspaper connected with the owl, and it went shooting headfirst out of an open window nearby, hooting in apparent excitement.  
Ron's mood swung to black then, and he launched himself upon Malfoy. "Oy! There's no need to hit him!"  
Harry, having a feeling that Ron had just been itching for an excuse to go at Malfoy, hesitated for a moment as Hermione said, "And there's no need to hit him either." But when Crabbe and Goyle began to pitch in, Harry jumped forwards to his friend's aid.  
The Auror smiled as she saw Hermione roll her eyes, and reached her hands into the fray, grabbing a Slytherin tie and a Gryffindor tie, and pulling Ron and Draco out of the tussle. "What on earth are you filth-years doing?" A sixth year sniggered as he walked past.  
"I think you'll find we're fifth years." Malfoy scoffed from between clenched teeth.  
"Oh, no, you are filth-years. I've never heard of this sort of appalling behaviour among descendants of such honourable wizarding families." That was a lie. "Mr. Weasly, I am not impressed by your miss-use of that owl, but, Mr. Malfoy, I am also not impressed by your cruel and harsh treatment of such an innocent creature." She regarded Crabbe and Goyle, who were rubbing bruises and scowling threateningly. "As for you two goons, I suggest you stick to your day jobs - being students - and leave those body-guard careers alone. And Harry, although sticking up for Ron in that case was okay, as he was outnumbered - "  
"What?!" Malfoy shouted.  
The Auror sighed and gave the boy's tie a tug as she continued. " - Just remember the next time you feel like sharing fisticuffs with your enemies that you don't have to get involved just because a friend is...you can make up your mind for yourself in the filth year." And with this wry comment, she released their ties and made to leave.  
"We'll finish this one, Weasly. Duel."  
"Not now, you idiot! That bloody Auror's just over there!"  
"Yes, the bloody Auror is just over here, and if you need a referee for that duel, then all you have to do is ask." Walking away again, wanting nothing more to do with this amusing, but childish clash of personalities, the Auror was stopped by Hermione.  
"Aren't you going to punish them? Discourage them from the duel at least?!"  
"I don't see why I should. They're not going to kill one another at this stage, and it's a useful learning experience."  
"But they could be seriously hurt!"  
The Auror lowered her voice slightly, and said, "Come to my office, a moment, Hermione, and I shall explain." Puzzled, the girl followed, leaving the boys still arguing. When she had closed the door, the Auror lowered her hood, as a sign that she was being honest. "I meant, when I mentioned refereeing, that I shall be there when they meet for the duel and call it off for them."  
Surprised at the sight of the Auror's face as she was, Hermione recovered herself quickly. "But how will you know when they meet?"  
"I have...my ways, means and sources. I can find out where they will meet, but not when."  
Hermione studied her face for a moment, looking for any sign that this woman wasn't being entirely honest, but she could find none. "Okay. I can find out when they're having it. Will I be able to catch you in your office at all times?"  
"You will find me with Harry's map. I shan't be moving around too much, but if I am, just wait until I am still, then come and find me."  
Hermione nodded, choosing to disregard the Auror's knowledge of the Marauder's Map. Then plucked up the courage to ask, "Er...How should I address you? Profess--"  
"No, no not Professor." The Auror laughed. "Miss Winters would be okay, I suppose. Or just Auror. Call me Auror."  
The girl nodded again, seeming to understand. "Okay, Auror." Then with a fleeting smile of conspiracy, she left the Auror's office.  
  
* * *  
  
That night, unable to sleep much, the Auror pulled her robes tightly about her and travelled back up to the trophy room, to wrestle with her thoughts. She knew she had to speak to Remus and Severus, but she couldn't bring herself to yet. It would probably be the last day of summer term before she'd do anything, she mused. And even then, she'd most likely need Dumbledore's wise hand stirring events.  
Not getting anywhere with those thoughts, she let her attention wander to another important conversation she'd had with Dumbledore.  
  
~~~  
Remus looked up from examining her handiwork with glee. "This map is awesome Sephy! Where'd you learn to write like this?"  
Sirius peered over his shoulder, "Gosh, all it needs is a few spells and then it'll be done! I don't really believe that we've almost finished it." The four Marauders, Lily, Sephine, and Charlie all regarded the piece of parchment with awe. After so long exploring Hogwarts and scrawling down notes about passageways and tunnels, they had put it all together, and with a little help, had made a beautiful map.  
Sephine swivelled it to face her, and dipped her quill. "What shall I write at the top then? 'Masterpiece by:'?"  
James grinned. "No, we have it all worked out - but are you sure you three don't want to sign it?"  
Lily shook her head, "If that's caught by Filch I don't want any way of tracing this back to me to be visible."  
Charlie grinned. "I didn't really do much...I'm kind of an innocent bystander here."  
"And I'm definitely going with Lily on this one."  
James sighed and shrugged. "Suit yourselves! Okay, here's what we want - 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, purveyors of aids to--"  
"Hey, wait! I can't write neatly that fast!"  
"Oh. Sorry..."  
"Okay."  
"Um...where was I?"  
"'Purveyors of aids to.'"  
"Oh, right. 'Purveyors of aids to magical mischief makers'"  
"Uh-huh..."  
"'Are proud to present...'"  
"Mmmm?"  
"Drumroll, please, Sirius?"  
Sirius obliged by beating his and James' wands on the table.  
"'The Marauder's Map!'"  
"Ta-da!" And with that, Sirius jumped on to the table and spread his arms wide in triumph. Just as the Headmaster appeared in the library doorway.  
"Mr. Black? I don't think that is very good for the table. Would you and your friends please come with me a moment - all of you."  
The teenagers exchanged glances, then Lily charmed the map back to its hiding place and they cautiously made their way to Dumbledore's office.  
When they were allowed in, the old wizard was looking more serious than any of them had ever seen him. He observed them for a moment over his half-moon spectacles before speaking.  
"Your are all in your 7th years...that is correct? Yes. Now you are all also aware of the Ministry of Magic's demands that this school increases its protection...?"  
The students exchanged bemused looks, which Dumbledore caught.  
"Ah, well...I shall have to explain to you then. The Ministry feels that Voldemort and his Death Eaters will easily be able to come storming into Hogwarts, should they so wish, with minimal resistance. Of course, you and I know that this is not possible, and will not be possible as long as I am headmaster here. Voldemort is very afraid of us still, and will not just march in here - that would be a foolish thing to do, and evil he may be, but foolish he is not. So I am asking my most talented students, if they would mind postponing great careers in magic, to stay and work for an old man, just for one year."  
The sat in silence for a moment, then Peter got up from the seat at the back, where he had been cowering. "I don't think you meant me to hear this conversation, Headmaster, I'm sorry for coming and I'll leave now." But the old wizard stopped him.  
"No, Peter, I meant for you to hear this too. You have a great many talents that have yet to reveal themselves, and will prove very useful in what I am asking you to do."  
The boy's face registered astonishment and incomprehension. He had never been asked this before. No one had ever needed him like this. Finally, he lowered himself back into the chair, a red flush spreading over his cheeks.  
"Thank you Peter, I appreciate your loyalty greatly. And the rest of you? I am not ordering you to stay, and you must know that you shall not be paid much, if anything at all. But I know that you are all capable of this job I am offering."  
Lily, who was best at keeping her wits in times of crisis, answered before the rest of them. "What exactly is the job you are offering, Headmaster?"  
Dumbledore smiled, and gave a quiet laugh. "Ah, yes. Of course. You must know that before making any decisions. You will be helping Professor Flitwick, mainly, setting charms and wards around the castle. Severus Snape will be staying on as well, and you will all be expected to behave like adults." Some looks of doubt and disgust were exchanged at this, but all vowed to live up to Dumbledore's expectations. "You will be sent out in groups to patrol the edges of the grounds, keeping an eye or two open for suspicious activities or spells. If any other minor jobs arise, you will be given the opportunity to deal with them, but you will be kept as far from danger as we can help it."  
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys but there's no choice here for me." James was the first to speak up. Noises of assent were made, and heads bobbed in agreement. "I'm staying here."  
"Me too - it beats home, believe me." Sirius looked slightly pale but determined.  
"And me. If James is staying I'll have to stay to keep an eye on him." Lily squeezed James' hand, and smiled a nervous smile.  
"I've already given my answer." Peter looked exceedingly white, but just as determined as Sirius.  
Charlie was grinning. "I can't wait, this'll be a blast, it'll be just like being Aurors!"  
Sephine smiled too, not wanting to show the butterflies that were attacking the inside of her stomach. "Yeah, I've always wanted to be an Auror, and this way I'll get plenty of work experience!"  
Remus, however, didn't look so convinced. "I don't know. I - I won't really do much good. I'll just let you guys down." Only Sephine and Charlie appeared not to understand, and Dumbledore shook his bearded head, thinking how much trouble that could cause later.  
"Nonsense, Remus." Sephine comforted, wrapping an arm around his slumped shoulders. "You'll be the most valuable member of the team! C'mon, you know you're best at hands-on Defence Against the Dark Arts, no matter how much I pretend to be so good at it. You're the real whiz-kid."  
He tried to hide his smile, but found he couldn't, as her smile had always been so infectious, and she was smiling right now. Just for him it seemed. "Okay." He whispered. ~~~  
  
She'd been the one who'd convinced him. It had been her fault that he'd stayed. The Auror groaned at the irritation of knowing that the past couldn't be changed, and sat with her head in her hands until dawn broke through the windows once more.  
"Wha--?" She leapt to her feet, scrabbling for her gold watch. "Oh blast!" She raced along corridors and up stairs, until she found the staff bathroom...engaged. Unable to stop in time, though, she careened headlong into the heavy wooden door.  
A shocked voice from within exclaimed, "Hey! Can't you see it's engaged? Just wait a couple of minutes, can't you?"  
"Er, sorry." The Auror mumbled, glancing at her watch again and fidgeting. She had been pacing outside the bathroom for nearly fifteen minutes when the previous user emerged, a towel round his waist and another draped over his shoulders. The Auror stopped pacing and stood fixed to the ground, as Lupin smiled. "All yours," he said, and gestured to the open door as he walked past her.  
  
* * * 


	3. Chapter 3

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Feeling slightly refreshed, but still craving a few hours in bed, the Auror marched out to meet Hagrid, desperately trying to forget that earlier embarrassment.  
"Hello there, Miss Winters." Hagrid beamed, getting up from the tree stump he had been sitting on. "'Ear yeh've a knack with unicorns?"  
"Yes, that's right." Sephine said pleasantly, watching as her hand was lost in that of the half-giant's.  
"Good, good. 'Cause that's exactly what I been needing. Yeh see, the fourth years'll be doing 'em soon in Care o' Magical Creatures, an' seeing as they prefer women an' all that, I was wondering if yeh'd be willing t'help me catch a couple, 'n' bring 'em down into the paddocks?"  
"I'd love to help, Rubeus. I've always wanted to see them in their natural habitat and this will be perfect for that, I have no doubt."  
The huge man's face lit up at her enthusiasm, and he clapped his massive hands together once. "Great! Thanks, Miss Winters. I'll just go in an' get Fang, then we'll head off, righ'?"  
"Sure."  
The trip into the Forbidden Forest turned out to be most interesting to the Auror (trips into that Forest always seemed to be interesting). Hagrid was very talkative, and spent a lot of time telling her of Harry Potter's previous adventures there, as well as all the Dark Creatures that allegedly prowled the forest. "O' course, there aren't really that many 'armful ones in 'ere. If there were, then Dumbledore would have seen to it that they were taken somewhere else. Can' have his pupils bein' eaten, now can he? Great man, Dumbledore. An' as fer werewolves, well. There's only one werewolf that's ever walked the 'Hogwarts grounds, an' he was the mos' charming little boy I ever met."  
"Really?" she wondered if that was all Hagrid had to say about Remus.  
"Oh, I shouldn't've told yeh that," he hastily recovered, and whenever she asked anything about it again, that was the same result she always got. But finally in a clearing just ahead, they saw the white glow of at least a dozen unicorns. Hagrid stayed back with Fang as she approached them.  
The ethereal creatures regarded her with interest at first, curious as to what was invading their private gathering. Small golden foals trotted nearer than the adults, pushing delicate noses at her, trying to smell out what she was. Some observed her with disdain and mistrust, not liking this creature that so obviously was a person, yet smelled so strongly of phoenix.  
Finally, when they were used to the sight of her at least, the Auror transformed.  
As one the group of equines moved back, some scattering from the group, but most just becoming more curious. The phoenix hovered for a few minutes, singing a quiet song of beauty, and gaining the attention of every unicorn in the clearing. Finally, they let their interest get the better of them, and they approached the resplendent bird, muzzles quivering and outstretched. Then, the phoenix turned, and flew slowly between the trees, weaving occasionally to keep them enticed. The parade of unicorns followed the firebird, making a highly unusual troupe. Hagrid also followed at a safe distance, wondering what held the unicorns' attention so strictly.  
As she neared the paddock gate, the Auror transformed quickly to open it, then just as quickly transformed back. She flew to the other end of the field, then settled on the top rail of the fence, watching all the unicorns hesitate at the edge of the forest. They snorted and pawed the ground, examining the new territory with prudence. The phoenix sung again, slightly louder this time, to gain their fascination once more. As the golden foals caught up with the main group though, and worked their ways to the front, the Auror could see that they would lead the adults in. The foals pranced out of cover onto the fresh green grass, frolicking in the early winter sunlight, and paying no heed to the nervous whinnies of their parents.  
Rustling in the forest behind them appeared to startle the herd, and a few jumpy mares sprang forwards, leaping like the foals on the springy ground. Hagrid's noisy approach seemed to be enough, and soon all the unicorns had entered the paddock of their own free will. The Auror transformed once more and picked up the feathers that had fallen onto the grass. Damn. Must be near dead again. She gave a laugh at the absurdity of the thought, and slipped the feathers into her pocket whilst making her way around the fence to where Hagrid was admiring the heavenly animals.  
"Yeh've done a grand job 'ere. I really don' know how yeh managed it, really I don'. But if ever I need unicorns catching again, I'll know jus' who to ask for."  
The Auror smiled and laughed. "Miss Winters, Unicorn Herder and Auror at your service."  
  
* * *  
  
A week passed before the Auror met Hermione again.  
"Any word, yet, Hermione?"  
The girl looked disappointed and frustrated. "No. They're being awfully secretive about it. It seems that Malfoy wants a three-on-three, so that he can have Crabbe and Goyle with him. And Ron's having difficulty choosing his third."  
The answer seemed obvious to the Auror. "Tell them you'll be their third."  
"Oh, I couldn't. I thought of that, but it's really not my kind of thing."  
"How do you know? Have you ever tried duelling?"  
"Ah...yes. Once." It didn't seem to be a memory that Hermione was particularly fond of.  
"Okay. Well, I shall be there very quickly. I doubt if Malfoy and Ron will even get off their first spells, so long as I know where they are."  
"How will you find that out?" Hermione asked. "Only Ron and Malfoy know, and Ron won't even tell Harry, so he's plainly taking this terribly seriously."  
The Auror smiled. "I have ways and means. So long as I know the day, I can find out the place."  
  
* * *  
  
Every night, the Auror was to be found in the trophy room, looking over the shining memories, and conveniently leaving the shadows outside the door. It was only a couple of days after her meeting with Hermione when she approached the room knowing that someone else was there this time.  
She slid around the doorframe, slinking into the shadows. The gathering in the room was in fact the one she had been planning to split up.  
"Well, well. Gryffindor and Slytherin still keeping those ties of animosity alive, eh?" She was so amused at the way they all jumped so guiltily that she had to stifle a laugh. "What's going on here?"  
"This is a private meeting." Malfoy bluffed, hoping that the stranger wouldn't have studied the Hogwarts rulebook.  
Unfortunately for him, this Auror knew the Hogwarts rule book inside out - she had helped to break many of those points listed in it. "Well as far as I am aware, 'private meetings' should be kept strictly to daytime hours, and most certainly shouldn't be conducted in the trophy room. In fact, if it was Mr. Filch that had discovered you here, then I am sure you would each have had to scrub every one of these trophies...."  
There were a couple of cries of protest, and Hermione hugged her robes about her, looking very upset and stubborn. "But I am not Mr. Filch. And I don't usually mind wizard duels. Although, as you go up in years, you learn more troublesome curses, and I feel that it is my duty to break this one up before anything can come of it. So, wands please, and you shall get them back at 8:30 sharp tomorrow morning from me. I will be in my office."  
When Malfoy and his cronies showed no signs of giving their wands up, the Auror sighed, and waved her own wand at them. "Expelliarmus!" The wands leapt from the pockets of their owners, and she turned to go.  
The Auror had gotten halfway down the first flight of steps, when Hermione caught up with her. "I'm really sorry. As soon as I offered, they didn't give me a chance to tell you and dragged me off to plan and everything. How did you find out?"  
"Don't worry. It's okay. Luck is often an important factor in my job."  
Just then, Malfoy and company came storming down the stairs. As he passed her, Crabbe smacked purposely into the Auror's shoulder. She felt the hand in her pocket almost before it happened, and her hand shot out of her sleeve in an instant. All the students stopped, staring at the scars that were revealed zigzagging along her wrist. "Give me those wands back, little boy." She hissed.  
With a trembling hand, Crabbe extended them out to her. She let go of his arm and snatched them from his limp fingers. An intense anger had overcome her, after seeing such devious tactics, and after revealing her scars like that. "Get to your dorms. The lot of you. Go."  
  
* * *  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked up from their cauldron with the guiltiest expressions that Severus Snape had ever seen on their faces. "I don't suppose you would care to share what you were discussing, with the class, Mr. Potter? Hmm? No? Mr. Weasley? Miss Granger? I thought not. Detention. See me after class." The reaction had begun to come naturally to Severus, that whenever one of those three did something unsavoury, his automatic response was 'detention'.  
He prowled along the aisles of his dark classroom, regarding Draco Malfoy's potion with joy. That boy would make a good Potions Master.  
Malfoy had been in mid-discussion as Professor Snape walked past, and having a sudden burst of inspiration, raised his voice slightly as the teacher peered into his cauldron. "Did you see her scars? They were hideous! I can't believe Dumbledore would hire some kind of masochist psychopath to 'protect' us." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered right on cue, and Draco smirked in joy as he saw the professor's expression change slightly.  
"What's that Malfoy?"  
"Oh well, sir, I was just questioning our esteemed Headmaster's judgement."  
"Yet again."  
"Sir, the Auror he has hired quite clearly bears the scars of a suicide attempt, and I'm ever so worried that she may be unstable enough to attack one of us if given the opportunity."  
"Really, Malfoy? And what gives you that impression? Just how did you see these scars?"  
"She lashed out at one of us in class." Malfoy lied without missing a beat. "As her sleeve went up, we saw the most awful scars ever on her arm!"  
"Why haven't you reported this?"  
"Well, we're so afraid of her. No one knows what she'll do to us if she finds out we've told. Please protect us, Professor. I don't know who to ask but you."  
Snape grunted, and studied Malfoy suspiciously. For once, he didn't want to believe his star pupil. Not getting the reaction he wanted, though, Malfoy pretended to fall to pleading, and showed the bruises on Crabbe's wrist to Snape. "Look, sir! Look what she did! We're so afraid of her. What if she's actually You-Know-Who's servant, just like the last Auror?"  
Finally hearing enough, Severus flicked Crabbe's hand away with a swish of his wrist. "Shut up, Malfoy. Leave the Auror out of your scheming and go back to annoying Potter and his friends. Your results will tend to be more productive that way." And with that he raged off, leaving Malfoy and his friends greatly curious.  
  
* * *  
  
The Auror looked up from her book, as there was a sharp knock on the door. "Hello?"  
"Miss Winters? Auror? Let me in. This is Professor Severus Snape."  
The Auror hesitated. There was something in his voice, the way it seemed to quiver with anticipation. He knew. How did he know? What did he want? Why was he here?  
"Miss Winters, let me in, please. I would like to speak with you."  
He sounded so sincere that she almost got up then. "No. I'm not ready to talk." Maybe that would discourage him.  
"You will be ready now, or you will never have this discussion. I must speak with you. Now!" Half expecting him to add 'or never', she held her breath. When he spoke again his voice was more controlled. "Sephine. I know it's you in there. If you do not open this door I may find myself expressing my feelings slightly louder than at present. Remus Lupin's office is just down the corridor..."  
"Oh..." she moaned. "I'm not ready...I'm not ready..." but still her hands moved towards her wand. "Alohomora!"  
"That's the one." at least he was smiling. Or doing his idea of a smile, which was a twisted upper lip and a sour dimple at the corner of his mouth. "You know..." He began after closing the door. "...You never actually thanked me."  
"Because I resented what you did more than you can understand. And I still do. You should have left me."  
"Nonsense." His voice sharpened. "If you had been so desperate to die, and forget everything, then you've had countless opportunities since then. You just couldn't do it."  
"I could have done it once - that's usually all that is needed when committing suicide!" she spat back.  
His lip curled yet again. "That's a pathetic excuse, Winters and you know it. You'd have come up with a much better one when faced with an angry teacher. So much easier to lie then, wasn't it?" She just glared out from under her hood, imagining him just going away. "And this hood that you wear. What is its purpose? I don't think that pretty face is scarred..." He reached a hand out to push her hood back, but she was faster. His hand withdrew, now feeling his own reddened cheek. "So. Is it just a matter of pride? Can't face facing people?" Although he was still smirking, his black eyes flashed with a deep hatred. "And we always thought you were the strongest. Wrong, wrong, wrong..."  
"Severus, why the hell are you here?"  
"Just to confirm my suspicions. And get that apology."  
The Auror ground her teeth, still glaring at him. "All right. I apologise for suspecting you of being a Death Eater."  
He raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised. "Ha! Apology not accepted. I didn't know that one, Winters. Almost everyone suspected me, but I had always thought you could see the good in people. Obviously not. I'm.insulted. And anyway, I was a Death Eater."  
"What?"  
Snape hesitated, looking about as though the walls had eyes that would see what he was about to do. He pulled his black sleeve up. In the middle of his forearm in sharp contrast to his stark white skin burned angry pink flesh in the shape of the Dark Mark. "You were right. I was with them. But I wasn't with them by the time you suspected me. When I'm just being myself you think I am in legions with The Dark Lord. But when I am in legions with him, you think I'm just being my usual self. I was trying to save you that night, and I would have saved you a lot of trouble if you'd trusted me. That was the only time you've ever needed to trust me Winters, and you didn't. Why not?" His voice was icy and all traces of the attempted smile had vanished.  
She couldn't speak. Why couldn't he have left that out of it? Just because he was ready to talk of it, that didn't mean that she was. "I thought you had done it. You're lucky I didn't kill you outright." She finally croaked. It didn't sound very convincing, even to herself.  
He gave a snort and leaned back a bit. "You were in a state where you could only be going for two people, and those you did kill. Very effectively, I must say."  
She turned her head away. "I've already told you that I'm not ready to talk about that."  
"But I am ready. And I want to talk about it now. Can't you just think of someone else for once?" He growled, his hands shaking a little in his effort to keep control of the situation.  
"For once? What do you mean, for once?" He had her attention now.  
His voice lowered, and again the lip curl returned. "I mean, you're a selfish little girl, you always have been, and you always will be."  
For that, he got another slap, this one twice as hard. "How dare you! There are many people whom I care for much more than myself as I thought that night would have demonstrated to you! I don't want to see you near me or my office from now on, and I most definitely do not want to talk to you any more, especially on this subject!"  
He smirked as he moved towards the door, one hand still on his cheek. "Well, I'll be sure to pass the message on."  
  
* * *  
  
Severus Snape wasn't quite as satisfied with his answers as he let on. Slamming the door shut, he strode down the corridor, heading straight for Lupin's office, massaging his cheek all the way. "Lupin! Lupin, open up!"  
The other man appeared at his door, frowning at Snape's rage. "Yes, Severus? What do you want?"  
"I just need to pass on some information I recently gained from that Auror."  
"Well, shouldn't you be seeing Dumbledore--"  
"No, I should not be seeing Dumbledore! This concerns a certain Miss Sephine Winters and I thought you should like to know that the treacherous young lady is supposedly protecting this castle right now!" Snape's other cheek had flushed with anger, almost as red as the first, but Lupin had gone very pale.  
"Thank you, Severus." And he moved to close the door.  
"Wait. You're not just going to ignore this information! You're going to talk some sense into her! I need answers!"  
"Of course." Lupin whispered, shutting the door with a soft click. Don't we all.  
  
* * * 


	4. Chapter 4

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The Auror sat there for a long while.  
Only trying to clear her mind and forget what had just happened. Only wanting it to all go away, for her to be able to start again, right from the beginning. Maybe get sorted into a different house so that she'd stand out less. Hufflepuff maybe, be just another boring Hufflepuff, the Marauders and everything about them a mystery that would never concern her.  
She curled her legs up onto the chair, hiding her face in her hands and shrinking into her cloak. There was a soft knock on the door. "Go away!" She pleaded.  
An apologetic voice replied, "Oh, sorry...I was just wondering about this homework that Professor Lupin set me, and he's busy, so I just wondered if you could help...? Seeing as you teach Defence Against the Dark Arts too and, and everything..."  
"Sorry, I'm busy too. Come back tomorrow and I'll help." But the interruptance of the student had been enough to bring the Auror back down to reality...with a very hard slam. So hard that she felt she couldn't go on, that maybe she could do what she had been planning to do back then. But as she regarded the knife she knew that Severus had been right. It had been then or never. She couldn't do it now. Finally losing the self-control she had prided herself upon since then, the Auror slid off the chair and sat on the cold stone floor, sobbing quietly to herself.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus Lupin leant against the door after closing it, unable to move. Of course it was her. He should have guessed from the scars. He shivered at the memories that flooded back, but unlike the Auror, he allowed the memories to come - facing them as they tried to break him down.  
Whether he shivered from the good memories or the bad, he wasn't sure. But there had been a lot of both, and she had always had that kind of effect on him, whether intentionally or not. He remembered how happy he'd been around her, like she could light up the whole day, no matter how terribly it had been going. And he cursed himself once more for not telling her. Not telling her sooner.  
  
~~~  
Remus sat on a tree stump, watching them approach through the snow. Sephy and Lily were giggling about something, and Sirius and Charlie were quite obviously making fun of James again. Peter was observing with his usual restraint.  
Snape and his group of bodyguards were just on the edge of his vision, too. Sniggering dangerously over a pile of snowballs. "You guys, look out!" Remus shouted with a smile as the first of them whizzed at Sirius' head.  
Soon there was a fully-fledged snowball fight playing out in front of him, but he didn't join in. Madam Pomfrey had fixed him up pretty well after last night, as usual, but he wasn't feeling up to a snowball fight. He sighed when he saw that Sephine was the first to notice his absence.  
"Remus..." she said impishly, an evil grin still playing across her face as she approached him. "Why aren't you joining in? We need your help and advice..." She crouched down in front of him, leaning her elbows on his knees and putting her chin in her hands.  
He couldn't help but smile at her. "I'm not feeling so good today - late night doing Potions essay. And you guys are doing very well without me."  
She made a derisory noise. "Potions. Ick. Well I suppose it'll be an early night for you today then." That customary perfect eyebrow was raised, and that wry grin was inviting him to play along with her mischievous games.  
He laughed at her expression, as he always did, and stroked a wisp of auburn hair out of her bright blue eyes, which closed in pleasure at his touch. I need to tell you...but I couldn't bear it if I did and you left me for it. He thought sadly.  
"Why so sad, Remus?"  
Ha. Not getting anything past you, am I? "Oh I was just thinking how much I'd love to join in..." He said with his own roguish grin, before brandishing a snowball he'd been hiding.  
She laughed in between the shriek at the cold, and tried to get back at him, but he caught her hand and kissed her gently on the nose. "Got you."  
She smiled and kissed him back. "Got you yourself." ~~~  
  
Remus smiled fondly at the memory, remembering it like yesterday, even though it had been from when he was seventeen. If only he'd told her. That thought kept repeating itself again and again, tormenting him with what-ifs and could-haves. But then he remembered her reaction when she had found out. She hadn't seemed scared or disgusted...yet Madam Pomfrey had told him that she'd left the next day. Was she just that good at hiding her emotions?  
  
* * *  
  
Oblivious to Remus' thoughts of her self-control, the Auror had completely lost all of it, and had flung herself onto her four-poster, drawing the curtains and collapsing into uncontrollable waves of anguish.  
Even Snape, stopping to hear if she was doing anything untoward, was alarmed at the complete breakdown she seemed to be suffering, and placed a simple silencing spell on her door, so as those who walked past would not be disturbed.  
It wasn't until near midnight when the Auror began to notice the funny feeling that she got when the phoenix reached the end of its life. Stopping her sobs for a moment, she frowned, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hood was down, and her hair was plastered to her blotchy, wet cheeks, her eyes blood-shot and wary. She moaned and collapsed onto the bed again, letting the transformation take place.  
The phoenix would have been ruffled and fluffed up...had it any feathers. As it was, the normally dazzling creature could have been any plucked bird, sitting mewling to itself on the bed covers. It gave a cough, and smoke rose from its beak, giving way to another coughing fit. Finally overcoming that, it struggled to the edge of the bed and flopped onto the icy floor.  
With a slight whoosh, the phoenix burst into flames, the familiar heat consuming it. After a final screech of protest and pain, the bird died, disintegrating into a pile of black ash at the foot of the Auror's bed.  
A couple of minutes passed before a tiny chick emerged shakily from the remains of its predecessor. It looked around in confusion then began to shriek for warmth and food, blinking its bulbous eyes at the bright light of a new world.  
  
* * * 


	5. Chapter 5

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 5  
  
The next day, the Auror did not leave her room, allowing the excuse that she was still weak from last night's transformation to cover her real reasons for not leaving. She was avoiding them and she knew it. But she couldn't make herself face them. Not yet. Dumbledore had said when she was ready. Not when they forced her.  
Making up her mind, she resolved to be strong once more and not give in to either of them. Consequently she spent almost the entire day in phoenix form.  
The young bird grew quickly, soon gaining feathers and doubling in size. It amused itself by exploring the Auror's room and attempting short flights from the edge of her bed. The only interruptions in its first day in the world were Dobby the house-elf bringing a most unusual assortment of food to fuel the creature's growth, and a piece of folded paper being slipped quietly under the door just after sundown.  
The Auror transformed, gazing at the paper in astonishment. Finally, she reached down and picked it up. She could now tell that it was a wizard photograph, and she unfolded it very slowly.  
There, forever young and innocent, were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Charles Cookson and Sephine Winters. Almost all wore grim expressions, despite Dumbledore's encouragement's from behind the scenes. Charlie was the only one smiling, and his grin was wicked. His first reaction to the news that they would be staying behind with Snape was to begin plans for mischief and revenge.  
The Auror sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at the photo. Who had put it under her door? She pondered that for a while, before coming to the conclusion that whoever it was was trying to make her remember things that she wanted to forget. Stubbornly she flung the piece of paper across the room, curling up on top of her bedcovers in a sulk.  
When she drifted off to sleep, though, she could not fight the memories any longer...  
  
~~~  
Sephine leaned against the stone pillar, staring blankly at the flame burning on the opposite wall. The orange glow seemed to warm up the night, leaving her slightly drowsy and bored. Her watch duty that night was the dullest of them all. Snape and Charlie were out near the Forest, Lily, James and Sirius near the Lake, and Remus and Peter at the gates. Leaving Sephine on the lonely door patrol.  
She was just considering charming the flames into other colours, when there was a loud bang. Startled, she moved away from the massive oak door, pointing her wand at it.  
"Help!" Came a cry from outside. "Sephine? Is it you on watch here tonight? Help me! Its Severus! Oh God, Charlie!"  
"Is it Severus or Charlie?" Sephine queried, readying her wand in distrust.  
"Sephine--"  
"Well I know you're not Sephine, 'cause I'm Sephine."  
"Damnit, I'm Severus Snape! Open the door! There's something out here."  
The urgency in his voice finally convinced her. The door swung open, and she stepped back again, armed with a sarcastic comment. "You mean something as well as you?" But then she saw him.  
He was soaking wet and covered in pond weed and bracken, his face gaunt and white as he staggered inside, trailing slime.  
"What the--?!"  
"Charlie! We were standing at the edge of the Forest, near the Lake, talking about - about jokes, and kidding each other about pranks, when...when there was this...green light! And it kind of - of...engulfed Charlie! And then he just fell forward...God there was this totally stunned expression on his face...and he just - just went 'splash!' into the Lake...and he sunk and he's gone, and he didn't come back up and I couldn't find him or anything! And I couldn't find the thing that got him, and everything's gone dead quiet and I don't know what to do!"(**Author's note: I know dead bodies float, but I'm using sinking as an effect of the Avada Kedavra curse. If this is a no-no then I'm sorry.)  
Sephine stared at him, at his pale face and wet robes. She listened closely to his babbling, becoming more and more worried as his grip tightened on her arms and his story progressed. "Oh no..." she whispered. "Oh God, oh God! It must be Death Eaters or something! Um...um..." She didn't know what to do either. But she did know that she didn't want to trust Snape. Not until she knew more. "Okay...where exactly were you?"  
"R-right opposite the Whomping Willow. I'll show you if you want--"  
But Sephine interrupted his offer before he came anymore to his senses. "No. You need to...um...get the others. I'm going to find Charlie and see if I can find the thing that was in the Forest. Go on." She turned him around and pointed him towards the still open door.  
"What?" He asked, controlled once more. "That's ridiculous! You can't just waltz into the Forbidden Forest and expect to duel a Death Eater and win! At least wait until I get Dumbledore!"  
"No! You get the others, and I'll get Dumbledore! Just get out of the castle!" She was becoming increasingly convinced and it made her frantic.  
Understanding dawned in his eyes, though. "You think I...?" He whispered. "No, Sephine, wait!" She raised her wand, terrified that he would get her before she could warn her friends.  
"Petrificus Totalis! Mobillicorpus!" She directed his hanging form out of the door and shut it once more with a charm. She stared at his wild eyes for a moment, disgusted by him, then ran from the castle down to the Forest.  
Snape had been right, everything was silent. She prowled the edge of the Lake, becoming increasingly nervous. She could see James, Sirius and Lily in a huddle near Hagrid's hut, James was crowing quite loudly about Lily's 'perfect bump' and Sirius was being too preoccupied with his amazement that he would be a godfather to notice anything unfavourable that might be going on.  
Sephine peered into the Forest with apprehension, brandishing her lit wand at ever-changing shadows. She gathered all her courage, and, for one so afraid of the dark, it took a lot to make her venture into the Forest that was forbidden.  
She dimmed her wand almost to nothing, the instinct of caution only just overcoming the instinct of fear. The light step and heightened senses of the phoenix allowed her to glide almost noiselessly through the sinister shapes of gnarled trees. The person (?) whom she pretended to seek (proof must be obtained to convince others that it was Severus) was, however, not so soundless. The dark shape ahead of her made her jump when she saw it for the first time. Its black hood and robes automatically provoked dread in those who saw it...especially those who saw it at night, cloaked in shadows.  
The Death Eater bent to examine something, suddenly catching a glimpse of Sephine out of the corner of its eye. Luckily for her, it appeared to have mistaken her Hogwarts robes for those of a fellow servant of Voldemort. "What are you doing here?" The voice hissed. "You should be at the door! Once it's open we need to alert the Dark Lord immediately!" Then it realised its mistake, and gave a cry of alarm, raising its wand.  
Sephine was faster, though, years of Quidditch honing her reactions well. "Stupefy!"  
The curse missed as the Death Eater jumped aside, laughing. "That the best you can do? Avada Kedavra!"  
Sephine shrieked in surprise, transforming out of instinct and flying away from the deadly burst of green light.  
The Death Eater stared at her in shock for a moment, before shrugging and taking aim once more. And again Sephine allowed instinct to rule her actions, hovering above him and transforming, wand pointed down at his black hood. "Avada Kedavra!" She shouted, not fully realising what she had done. She landed awkwardly to the right of the crumpled form of the Death Eater, more terrified than she'd ever been. "Oh my gosh, what...?"  
Sephine scrambled to her feet, limping as fast as she could back out of the Forest, the dark now the least of her worries. ~~~  
  
The Auror tossed and turned, her body trying to haul her mind out of its nightmares, but not affecting the pull of long-repressed memories.  
  
* * *  
  
Unknown to the Auror, Severus Snape was remembering the exact same memories at that time, only letting them consume his mind, going over them again and again, searching insatiably for answers.  
  
~~~  
He hung there for half an hour, unable to move or protest as Sephine rushed headlong into the Forbidden Forest. Try as he might, the spell she had cast was just too strong...fuelled by emotions he guessed. The Petrificus Totalis spell allowed the victim to keep his or her mind whilst being unable to move, which was what troubled Severus the most.  
He hadn't bargained that she wouldn't have believed him. That she was like the others and mistrusted him as much as they did. His misery increased as the realisation that she thought he had killed Charlie sunk in. The thought of Charlie was enough to play back that scene again in slow motion...every agonising frame staring Severus out with perfect clarity.  
One moment he was laughing at the memory of a particularly 'funny' prank of his, and then a bolt of incandescence struck him in the back, pitching him forwards towards the Lake. His eyes widened, the blacks pupils dilating almost to fill the green-blue orbs of the irises. Someone exclaimed in indignation as Charlie's body hit the surface of the Lake, sending plumes of dark water in all directions.  
Snape waded in after his fellow watchman, trying to part the weeds that tangled themselves around his ankles. He had been just about to dive beneath the surface, when a noise behind him made him spin around. "Who's there?" he croaked, the words sticking in his dry throat.  
He stumbled through the undergrowth for a minute or so, making enough noise that whatever it was appeared to have been scared off for now. Finally he stopped, alone in the Forest and with a complete quiet descended upon the grounds.  
The boy shivered, turning tail and fleeing towards the castle door. Charmed shut.  
He hadn't even considered the possibility that she wouldn't believe it. He had held her in his trust completely. And now he hung by magic outside the castle door, soaking wet and trembling - despite a petrifying curse - in the cold night air, all because he had made the mistake of trusting her.  
A shriek from the Forest would have comforted him had he truly been upset with her, but he still admired her and held faith in her abilities. Inwardly he screamed with her, for her, not wanting to see her end up like Charlie.  
The noise had done some good though. Everyone else now knew that not all was well at Hogwarts tonight. The door burst open, bathing Severus with the most welcome light he had ever seen. Dumbledore rushed to his side, undoing Sephine's spells with ease.  
"Severus, child! What has happened?" ~~~  
  
Severus scowled at the wall of his office, not appreciating his latest comprehension. Her mistrust of him should have told him quite clearly and simply that she had suspected him of being in league with Voldemort. And yet he had been so eager to blame it on hysteria, and hope that she would forgive him for a crime that he hadn't committed, that he had conveniently seen past her true convictions.  
  
* * * 


	6. Chapter 6

THE AUROR  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The Auror finally emerged from her memories, shaking and unsure of where she was for a moment. But when she recovered herself, she discovered that only one thought remained. I need to talk to them.  
She rubbed her face in her hands, trying to grasp the roots of that thought. Why? She hadn't wanted to ever see either of them again yesterday, but now she was so desperate to have that conversation with them, the one that she'd been putting off for more than ten years now.  
She did know at the back of her mind why this sudden change of mind had occurred, though. It always did when the phoenix had been reborn, and she was more lucid than usual, but not like this. It was the dream. It had been worse than ever, she had almost been able to smell the damp on Severus, the ozone of the curse, and the flesh on the monster's breath. She had been able to see every strand of Dumbledore's long beard, every tooth in the Death Eater's laughing mouth, and the terrified human glint in the monster's eyes.  
The Auror glanced at her watch, wondering if she had time, but it informed her that lessons would be starting in an hour or so, and she wanted more time. She had waited so many years that a few more hours wouldn't matter for a bit of peace of mind when speaking.  
She finally left her bed, hoping that the staff bathroom would be empty by now, and as she crossed the room her eyes caught sight of the photograph of 'Dumbledore's guards'.  
She frowned and picked it up, trying to smooth out the creases. Despite the grimaces, she could see how pure they all looked, no lines, no grey hairs, no shadows under the eyes. Even Remus was looking quite healthy, his arm loosely wrapped around Sephine's waist.  
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to remember what that felt like, but it had been too long ago, and she had tried so hard to forget memories from that time that a once warm touch was now distant and cool.  
The Auror sighed, pulling up her hood and preparing for a long, long day...  
  
* * *  
  
The Auror found it to be an even longer day than she had expected; Filch insisting that he needed no help guarding the castle today, as the upper school was mostly out at Hogsmeade.  
So she resorted to sitting in her room, reading the collection of Muggle books she carried with her. At about two in the afternoon a thought struck her, I wonder if Remus is teaching lessons right now? But she stopped herself from leaving, taking it as a challenge to make herself wait until the end of the school day.  
  
* * *  
  
At 4:00 sharp, she left her room, suddenly not so sure in the wide expanse of the corridor as to what she would say to him.  
She kept herself going all the way to Lupin's door, and managed to raise her hand and knock. Then a thought struck her. Lessons are only just over. He'll be on his way here now! She swore and headed back to her own cosy, dark room at a quick march.  
The Auror had barely got fifteen meters when a tired, but slightly amused voice called, "Playing pranks on teachers still, Miss Winters?"  
She froze to the spot, cursing herself mentally, and searching for a suitably light reply.  
"Oh, I never gave it up."  
Eventually she made herself turn and face him. He was standing just outside his doorway, smiling gently and watching her closely. He looked so similar and yet so different to the boy in the picture - not just the silver roots to his parted fringe, nor the faint lines at his eyes, lending him distinctiveness rather than extra years - but the understanding that seemed to radiate from him, combined with a calmness that engulfed her.  
"R - R -" Say it. Go on, say it. "Remus. I need to talk. To you."  
"I know, Severus told me. Come in." He gestured to his office, stepping aside as she made her way towards the open door.  
She stopped before entering, though, and stared at his face, wanting desperately to reach out and brush his hair from his eyes, or to stroke his cheek, like she had used to be able to. But instead, she nodded once to him, and went inside, clutching her robes to herself.  
Unsure of how to begin, the Auror looked around the room, her eyes drinking in all that she saw, gazing at the tank of pixies in wonder.  
"So." He said softly, closing the door quietly. "What is it that you need to talk about, exactly?"  
"What did Madam Pomfrey tell you?" It was the only way she could think of to start the conversation and it came out in a rush.  
He seemed confused by the question. "What?"  
"What did she tell you? About me. Where I had gone."  
He frowned, and sat down opposite her at his desk, leaning forwards slightly. She looked down, still standing, wanting an answer and yet not wanting one.  
"She just said you'd left the day before. Without saying anything, you just went...no, wait. She said you insisted that you - 'you needed to get away from me'." He swallowed, concentrating on his hands, which were interlaced on the wood in front of him.  
"No." She whispered, sitting down too. "No, Remus I didn't say that. I thought - I thought you'd been killed...and-and I didn't want to stay here with unhappy memories. I said I needed to get away from here. Not you."  
He looked up, hurt was still plain in his eyes, and comprehension hadn't dawned yet. He shook his head, "How could you think I'd been killed? I was in the same hospital as you..."  
"I didn't know. The covers were pulled on all the beds in mourning for Charlie. How was I to know that you were behind one set of covers? I was delirious, Remus! I was suffering from blood-loss and... And heartache, and God knows what else! Did Madam Pomfrey tell you that I tried to kill myself the night before I left? Because I couldn't stand being left on my own!"  
He studied her, but then reached a hand out tentatively. His fingers brushed her hood back lightly, letting themselves trail through her hair as they went. "It seems neither of us know the entire story here." He allowed the tips of his fingers to rest slightly under her chin. "Maybe we should both start from the beginning...?"  
The Auror smiled and nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before recounting that night and those after it, as she remembered them.  
  
~~~  
She burst out of the Forest, stumbling through the dense bracken. She could see a commotion on the other side of the lake and hobbled towards it.  
The Merpeople were disgusted and offended at having a human corpse sent to join them, and had brought up the body of Charles Cookson, dumping it unceremoniously on the bank. Dumbledore was speaking with them, apparently trying to explain what had happened and to apologise to them for the disturbance.  
"Sephine!" Snape turned to her. "I didn't - did you? Get him?"  
She hardly heard him, though. She was transfixed at the sight of one of her best friends lying lifeless and blue in the mud, when only an hour ago he had been joking about the implications of having a watch with Severus Snape.  
"Oh God..." She whispered, unable to tear her gaze away. Ultimately, Sephine felt a pair of warm hands turn her head from the scene forcibly. Prematurely callused thumbs stroked the tears from her cheeks, and his quivering voice sounded as bad as she felt, when he murmured, "No, Sephy, don't look, don't stare at him."  
She pressed her lips together, not wanting to cry, but she saw Remus' tears, and James', and Lily's, and everyone else's, so she flung her arms around him, sobbing freely onto his strong shoulder.  
"Okay, I think that's been enough excitement for one night. I want you all to go back up to the castle, with no detours or hesitations, and tell Madam Pomfrey of the situation before sending her out to assist me. Then you can all go to the Great Hall where there will be cups of cocoa from the house elves. Wait for me there."  
No one had the energy or the will to refuse, and they all walked in a dejected huddle back to the front door.  
As they approached it, an unusual shadow brought them to a halt still a few meters away. "Oh no!" Sephine whispered. "The Death Eater! He said something about another at the door...!"  
The shadow moved again, whatever it was turning to face the frightened nineteen-year-olds. "Expelliarmus!"  
Before any of them could move to prevent it, their wands were plucked from hands, pockets and robes, meeting together in the hands of the Death Eater.  
"Ha, ha! Hello again, children!" The voice croaked. Underneath, whoever it was didn't sound much older than any of them.  
The group exchanged confused glances. "Again?" James asked.  
"Don't you remember me? I was one of Sevvie's best friends. Don't you remember me, Sevvie?"  
Snape stared into the impenetrable shadows cast by the Death Eater's hood. "...Trurn?"  
"He remembers me! Hallelujah, he remembers me!" Trurn Mahbism clapped his hands in sarcasm, "Don't any of you remember me? I was the subject of a number of your cruel little pranks, and now I am going to have my revenge...but first maybe I should remind myself of who you lot are? Other than the piles of ash that you will be in a few moments." He pointed his wand at each person in turn as he described him or her in the manner of a Death Eater.  
"Peter Pettigrew...hopeless at everything except Herbology, that most pathetic of subjects. Loves tagging along with so-called 'Marauders' for a bit of the fame, fortune and action.  
"Severus Snape, my ex-best friend. Ha! I can't believe you were my idol! You couldn't even remain loyal to those similar to you, and look where you've ended up. Performing useless charms to help a doddering old fool feel better about himself. You could have been great, Sev. But you decided not to be. So you're not." The sneer was obvious even with his hood up.  
"Lily Evans. Well, well...either you've put on a bit of weight or Mr. Potter here has been busy!" The Death Eater cackled. "Always had your nose in a book, especially good at Charms, eh? Charming lady, really." He cackled again.  
"Jamesie Potter, how is the leader of the Marauders doing, then? Well, it appears. Cleaned up your act then? Instead of hexing Hogwarts behind Dumbledore's back you're now doing it for him! How amusing.  
"Si...Si...how is Hogwarts' most eligible bachelor getting along now? Looks about the same as before...Hmm. Honestly can't see why the ladies were attracted to you, but then maybe I'm just jealous. And anyway, you don't seem to have one with you right now..." Trurn mock-punched Sirius on the shoulder, a sly and wicked grin on the lit lower part of his square chin.  
"Well hello, my dear! Sephine! I haven't seen you for a year!"  
"Go screw your broomstick, Trurn." She sneered back at him.  
"Ah, yes, yes. Haven't changed a bit, have you? And I'm sure that you don't know much more than you did then, either..." He turned to include Remus in his manic speech. "Remus...!" he called. "I know what you are! Sevvie told me! I know all about you! And yet, I sense...dear Sephine doesn't..."  
Sephine frowned, wondering what the moron was getting at, and turned to tell Remus that she knew how full of rubbish Trurn was. But Remus had gone very pale, and was shaking his head slowly, a pained expression overcoming his face. "No...oh no, Trurn, don't, please...!"  
Nevertheless, Trurn raised his wand, cackling at Remus' reaction. Sephine moved to Remus, holding onto each of his shoulders. "What? Remus, what is he talking about? Oh, God, no. Wait. Okay. I'll start again. I don't care what he's on about. I love you as you are and I don't care if you're an illegal Animagus or-or anything, I promise!"  
"Sephine, no!" Sirius shouted, moving towards them, too, but he was too late. Still giggling, Trurn had his wand aimed at the side of Remus that he could see. "Exposier!"  
Although the sky had been clear, a projection of clouds now appeared above Remus and Sephine, parting with a swift wind that tugged at their robes, billowing them out in floating patterns. A full moon peeked from between the dark clouds, and bright light, brilliant, beautiful blue-white light was revealed, pouring over them. Remus had his eyes scrunched shut, and was trying to back out of Sephine's grip, whispering all the time, "It's not real, it's not real..." to himself.  
She, however, stood transfixed, her fingers locked into the material of his robes as she stared up at the moon. Trurn's laughter made her look at Remus again, though, and the feeling that she was no longer holding fabric brought her back to where she was.  
His body had been almost entirely engulfed by a coarse brown coat of fur, and as she watched, it spread up his neck to his face, which was contorted with pain, as though he was trying desperately not to scream. His face began to lengthen, and she could feel the shape of his muscles changing beneath her hold. It was too late to get away, she could see that now, but still she pulled back, unlocking her cramped fingers from the long, thick hairs.  
As Sephine released her grasp, though, the wolf gained his, inch-long claws digging their way through her sleeves and into her arms. It opened its jaws, hungry as always for flesh.  
Sephine raised her forearm, painfully tearing the skin further where its claws were, and hitting the monster square on the chin. It howled and pushed forwards again, toppling her off her feet. Heavy as the wolf was having fallen on top of her, Sephine tried to concentrate on fending off the huge teeth without being bitten, but she was growing increasingly tired, the immense strength of it overcoming her easily.  
Its teeth were seconds from her throat when its nose shortened again - quicker than it had lengthened - and the fur shrank to a set of Hogwarts robes once more. Remus fell with a sob onto her.  
The fall must have dazed her slightly, because Sephine wasn't entirely sure of anything at that point. Trurn was laughing, but she wasn't sure why, or even who Trurn was. Remus was crying, but she wasn't sure why, or even why she couldn't feel blood on her arms.  
Finally she forced her eyes open though, and saw the crescent moon smiling down at her with a lopsided sort of grin. She sighed, and stroked Remus' hair gently, gazing around in wonder. The next thing that caught her eye, however, was Trurn, his wand raised once more, and this time pointed at Lily and James' unborn child.  
She pushed at the sobbing and profusely apologetic Remus, trying to get out from beneath his dead weight. Eventually, she wondered at this, and studied him. All the wolf's old wounds seemed to have been opened up once more by Trurn's revealing spell, and colour was draining rapidly from Remus' face.  
"Oh no...oh no." She said miserably, holding his face in front of hers and endeavouring to wipe some tears from his cheeks, but only succeeding in smearing blood from her fingers onto him. "Why aren't Sirius or Peter or Severus doing something?" she asked aloud, craning her head off the moist ground to glance around the area. Peter was cowering behind a pillar, and she could now hear Snape and Dumbledore's shouted and urgent conversation down by the Lake. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, but James was watching the door closely as he held onto Lily firmly, trying to protect his unborn. Trurn looked as though he had completely lost whatever sanity he may have had, and was ranting and raving about something irrelevant, his wand waving around, taunting the pair in front of him.  
"Remus, move..." She murmured, trying to free herself once again, but more urgently this time. "Let me go, Remus!" He looked at her in bewilderment, but her attention was still on the group standing several meters away from them. His head turned slowly, following her gaze. She wriggled out from him, struggling to her feet unsteadily. She had been just about to approach Trurn, when she felt a tug on her cloak hem.  
"No, Sephine! I'm sorry I didn't tell you, don't leave me, please...I couldn't bear it. I couldn't..."  
She shrugged her cloak off, letting it fall into his hands. "Don't be silly, I'm not leaving you. I have to stop him. I must stop him..."  
Trurn seemed to be getting bored of talking to himself, and was gesturing more confidently with his handful of wands.  
Sephine studied him carefully, creeping up from the side. "Accio wands!" Almost all the wands left his hand, his own remaining there, his fingers locked tightly around it. Her wand, seven and a half inches, willow, phoenix feather, shot to her palm, all the others scattering across the ground between her and Trurn.  
He spun to face her, his hood now down, and a look of total shock registering on his face. He hissed, not even bothering with words, just pointing his wand and visualising what he wanted to happen. A burst of deadly white light sprang forth from his wand, straight for Sephine, who, without thinking, did the same, and imagined what she wanted as she brandished her own wand in defence. The light parted about a foot from her wand, spreading up into the navy blue sky. Trurn shouted in frustration, grinding his teeth and shifting his wand slightly.  
That did it. Her concentration had been on one point, not expecting the point to change, and now incandescent white light burst like an inferno past her shield, seeming to just travel through the warding hand that she raised.  
The phoenix was released by her pain, and screamed its song of suffering to Trurn before erupting in a blaze of fire, engulfing the Death Eater  
The orange light faded, and a pile of ashes remained, scattered across the grass. A very tiny and badly burnt chick emerged from them, its eyes gummed up with soot. It transformed by default back to human form, its weakness as a phoenix wanting protection from the woman who embodied it. Sephine, however, did not appear to be much better off than the phoenix.  
Remus battled to his feet, trembling from blood loss, and clutching at his stomach. He made his way slowly to Sephine, as did James and Lily. When he reached her prone form he let his knees give way, and held her to him, crying into her blackened sweater.  
She gave a small cough, then appeared far more still than before. The three that remained held their breath, hoping for some kind of response more from her.  
Just as Remus began to give up all hope, the massive main doors of Hogwarts swung open to reveal Sirius and Madam Pomfrey. Peter came shivering out from his hiding place, unable to wrench his gaze from Sephine, and Dumbledore and Severus appeared over the slight hill from the Lake.  
Madam Pomfrey wasted no time, conjuring three stretchers and administering a potion of some sort to Sephine. Charlie's stretcher included a sheet to cover him from morbidly curious gawking, and made its own way ahead of the silent procession, travelling alone to some quiet pre- programmed destination.  
  
* * *  
  
She'd never fully appreciated the advantages of being able to sleep before. But now, now she could only lie there, staring at the ceiling that she could see between the engulfing curtains that were wrapped around her bed. God it was boring. How many times she counted the stone blocks she didn't know, and that flowered pattern on the screens was becoming more depressing by the hour.  
She wasn't quite sure why she was still there. She felt fine, and the only evidence of last night that she could see was a puckered scar on the back of her right hand. She could remember other things, but she drove them away, not wanting to remember. That was why she couldn't sleep. They'd catch up with her if she did, and they'd confront her and haunt her forever.  
So she finally left her bed after sundown, having heard voices outside earlier, but not being visited by the owners of any of them. All the screens were up on every bed. She looked at it in disgust, the sea of printed flowers and repeated patterns getting on her nerves. She padded down the aisle, everything silent until an undignified rumble from her stomach made itself known.  
She grunted to herself in acceptance of this request and made for the kitchen.  
"Ooh, Sephine!" Seventh year Trina Khan was waiting for Sha-Rukh Partil outside a room as she passed, still in hospital robes. "Are you feeling better? Your friends want to see you - I don't know if you heard...?" Heather nodded at her blank stare. "Of course, sorry, not much comes in or goes out of the hospital at the moment. It's just...they're wondering if you saw Remus Lupin in there? Madam Pomfrey won't answer any questions about him, and no-one's seen or heard anything about him at all..."  
She frowned. "How long have I been in there?"  
"Oh, only since last night."  
She scoffed, "right, so you think there's going to be that much gossip circulating already? Gimme a break, Trin."  
"Well do you know anything about Remus?" She asked her departing form desperately.  
"No, I don't, but I'm sure he's recovering quite nicely under Madam Pomfrey's caring influence."  
"Sephine!" She whined, stamping an impatient foot. "James said that he didn't look so good when he went in. He said Madam Pomfrey was really worried," this she added much more quietly, studying the other girl's reaction.  
"He'll be fine," her voice quivered slightly as she headed on down the corridor.  
  
* * *  
  
When she got back to the hospital, Sephine was feeling much better, peeling chunks out of an apple as she walked, and Trina's doubt far from her mind. Or it was until she saw that all the screens were still drawn. Swallowing the last piece of apple, she set the knife and core down on her bedside table, behind the screen.  
After a thorough examination of all the beds in the room, and finding all of them empty, she was beginning to worry again. The door slammed and she spun around at the sound of Madam Pomfrey's voice. "Sephine Winters! What on earth are you doing out of bed--"  
"Where's Remus?" her voice was full of urgency as she advanced on the healer. "Where is he?"  
"Sephine, calm down. You need more rest, Remus is...he's fine." Pomfrey tried to steer her towards her bed again, but she fought out of her grip.  
"WHERE IS HE?" She screamed, knowing how hysterical she sounded, but not believing that she was actually that wrought-up.  
"He's gone--"  
"What?!"  
"--to--"  
"Don't say it..."  
"Sephine, lie down. You need to relax."  
"No! Where is he?!" she sat down on the edge of the bed, shaking with fear and rage. Why can't she just answer my question?  
"Sephine, sleep. You need sleep. Just rest now, you'll get answers when you are fully recovered."  
She looked up at Madam Pomfrey in horror and pleading, just wanting a straight answer, not to be left confused like this. "Okay." she whispered, curling up in the covers, her eyes refusing to close.  
  
* * *  
  
The first thing that her eyes fell upon when she woke was the knife still on her table. The last thing her eyes had seen when she had been asleep had been Remus' apparently lifeless form in the grass as she fell. Her groggy brain made an assumption, and her newly scarred hand reached out to the knife.  
  
* * *  
  
She looked up from her half-packed bag as the door to the dorm creaked open apparently of its own accord. Lily took the Invisibility Cloak off and smiled sadly at the sight of her packing.  
"Hello, Sephy. I just wanted to thank you on behalf of James and I...and our child. That was a truly incredible thing that you did for us. I- I don't know how to repay you..."  
She shook her head and even managed a small smile. "Don't. I was delirious anyway. And if I hadn't James would surely have got you out with less mess and trouble. I could tell you had a plan."  
Now Lily's smile turned rueful. "Yes. Trurn was just focusing on James and I, and seemed to forget the existence of the others. Peter fled, but Sirius had this," she held up the Cloak. "He and Snape managed to sneak off, and when Trurn realised that they had gone, he merely laughed yet again and returned his attention to us."  
Sephine snorted in amusement. "That Death Eater was seriously under- done in the head."  
Lily sighed and changed the subject."You know; you gave us quite a scare for a few hours. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't say anything about where you were or how you were."  
She felt her lip twitch in irritation. "Yes. She does seem to have gone quite quiet recently, doesn't she? Have you heard anything about Remus?"  
"No, sorry." Lily whispered. "It seems that they're thinking up an excuse still for his injuries. They don't want to tell the whole school of...well..." Lily looked at her hands and frowned, avoiding her gaze.  
"I wish he'd told me."  
"He was going to--"  
"But now he'll never have the chance. And I won't hear it. I want to forget everything that happened here. From now on, I'm just another normal student who only spent seven years at school. I wasn't one of Dumbledore's little helpers, and I have had nothing to do with illegal Animagi - oh, yes, I know that one - or werewolves, or Death Eaters or anything of the kind. I've never performed an Unforgivable Curse, and I've never seen a dead friend before. I've never met any of you. Maybe I'll just become a Muggle!" She laughed and fixed her small trunk to the back of her broomstick.  
"What shall I tell him, Sephine?" Lily's voice was hoarse and her eyes were watering. "What do I tell him? That you couldn't face staying because of what he was? That will break more than his heart. That you left because he didn't tell you before? Because he lied out of fear of losing you? I can't believe that you would be that cruel."  
She hesitated on the windowsill before pushing off. "You never had this conversation with me. I've just disappeared." And with that she flew away from Hogwarts and, hopefully, her memories. ~~~  
  
She looked up from the table where her gaze had been fixed during the re-telling of her conversation with Lily. Remus appeared to be looking through her. His expression was one of hurt and confusion. She searched guiltily for some glint of forgiveness.  
"So you were lying, even when you came here. When you said that you believed I was dead." He spoke with such finality that she leapt from her chair, sending it tumbling backwards.  
"No! I did believe that, just for a moment. But...but I knew you weren't when I left," she admitted.  
He still didn't look at her, but nodded to himself before changing the subject. "You know that what you did wasn't actually worth it?"  
"W-what?" She leaned on the table, making her way partly around to his side of it.  
"Lily's parents threatened to disown her. Said she was too young. She and James got rid of the first child before it was born. Harry was their only child, and he certainly wasn't born when she was still only twenty." Still he refused to look up.  
She groaned, and sank to the floor by his chair. "Oh, my life is pointless."  
Finally Remus turned to her, and pinned her with an accusing grey stare. "Did you leave because of what I am? Do I disgust you? Do you see me as a monster? Sephine, answer me."  
She winced at the harsh tone he used, and now it was her who would not look at him. "No, no! No. You're not a monster. You don't disgust me. I left because I'd lost my mind temporarily. I didn't think." She laughed ruefully and quietly. It sounded pathetic to her own ears."Maybe it was something in Trurn's curse!" Eventually she gazed up at him again, and took hold of his hands. "Remus...I did love you, I swear. I do love you. Whatever, whoever you are. Please, please forgive me. I'm so sorry."  
His expression did not change as she looked imploringly up at him, and she couldn't face it, closing her eyes and bowing her head, her tears now falling freely. But then a firm but gentle pair of hands lifted her to his arms, and he whispered, "Hush, it's okay, Sephine. I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me."  
She brushed the hair from her eyes, and smiled the first truly happy smile that she had done in years. "Oh, of course I forgive you, Remus!" And Sephine finally felt that she could face her memories again.  
  
* * *  
  
The students who were down to breakfast late that Saturday looked up in surprise to see Professor Lupin and a strange woman enter the Great Hall, laughing conspiratorially about something or other.  
Albus Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction as he raised his glass of pumpkin juice to them.  
Severus Snape watched them with caution, and wondered if they had teamed up to blame him for that night's occurrences.  
And the black dog at the Gryffindor table wagged its tail in contentment.  
  
* * *  
  
"You know we have to speak to Severus, too." Remus looked at her over the phoenix feather quill he was marking homework with.  
Sephine swung her legs behind her as she lay on her stomach reading. "Hmm. Yes, I know. But I'm not particularly looking forwards to it."  
"Don't like admitting you were wrong, oh great one?" he gave her a crooked grin as he dipped the quill in a pot of crimson ink.  
She smiled and felt herself blush as she hastily switched her attention back to her book. It was a Muggle story, called The Hobbit, and it gave her great amusement to read the Muggle's ideas of elves and trolls and the like.  
Remus was just about to turn back to the encouraging comment he was marking on Neville Longbottom's essay when there was a sharp knock on the door. "Lupin! I know you're harbouring that cowardly Auror! Send her out here alone! I shan't have the two of you convince me that I was in the wrong!"  
Sephine smiled ruefully. "No peace for the wicked, eh?"  
Remus, however, put his quill down carefully and gave her a searching look. "Are you sure you're ready to talk to him?"  
She closed the book with finality. "Yes I'm ready - I think." I hope. "Don't mollycoddle me, Lupin."  
He grinned and made for the door. "Okay, Severus. Come and take your best shots, we've got the answers you want..."  
Snape's angry frame filled the doorway. "I don't think so. She has the answers I want."  
Sephine sighed and stood up, moving to Remus' side. "Severus, you'll get extra points of view this way, honest, and you can put all stories together and try to figure out which parts you want to believe and which you don't when we're done. Just for once let's agree to talk this through completely, with all the surviving members of that group...barring Peter."  
The black dog that had appeared out of the adjoining room wagged its tail and barked in agreement, and even seemed to give Snape an all-knowing sneer.  
Seeing that this was the only option there was, Severus stepped into the room, his expression showing great distaste of the situation.  
  
* * *  
  
"So where were Winters and Lupin? Where was Madam Pomfrey hiding them?" Severus asked the one question that hadn't been answered yet by their conference.  
Remus glanced at Sephine, and she nodded, taking out the crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and smoothing it out on the table. It was obviously a map of some kind, with many scrawls in different inks and handwritings covering it. Passages and doors had been scribbled out and re- drawn, spells and incantations had been listed down the sides, and seven signatures in separate inks dominated the top of it. "This is our original copy of the Marauder's Map--"  
"The what?" Snape was immediately suspicious.  
"Ah..." Sirius looked at Sephine, who in turn looked at Remus.  
"Oh, nothing. It's just this silly map that we made when we were at school. Filch has the other one now, don't worry."  
Snape's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a grimace as he muttered, "Potter..."  
The other three ignored this, and Sephine continued, unfolding the Map and pointing to an obscure room to the West of Dumbledore's Tower. "This is where the Headmaster keeps his phoenix, Fawkes. It's also just above a lay line, and contains a lot of strong healing powers. We were taken there to recover as best as possible."  
"Well why didn't you tell all your little friends?" Snape sneered.  
Remus sighed. "We were taken there in secret - as in not even we knew where we were...until at least a week afterwards when we were supposedly sworn to secrecy...or I was at least. Sephine just never found out until yesterday where she had been, or where I had been."  
Severus looked at them all thoughtfully for a moment, and then nodded and stood up slowly. "All right. I'm sorry about the animosity I've shown to you all. You've explained everything very clearly and let me interpret it all for myself - I am grateful for that. But don't go expecting any favours. Black is still no friend of mine, and I'm nevertheless sure that you, Lupin, had something to do with that joke of his. Sephine, I don't feel so insulted now, but I don't forget easily." He regarded them all once more before leaving. "Just thank me for this much."  
As the door closed, the three that were left exchanged amused glances and burst into relieved laughter.  
"Thank him?" Sirius snorted. "Ha, ha! The pompous git!"  
Sephine raised an eyebrow with a wicked grin, "Well, he did apologise to us."  
  
* * *  
  
With her head buried in Remus' shoulder and the lights and sounds of the Yule Ball all around them, Sephine felt that she could live in that moment forever. She sighed when the song ended, and opened her eyes, gazing across the room. A bad mood in black caught her attention as her stare roved across the happy people gathered. Severus was sitting alone, his eggnog untouched.  
With another sigh, she disentangled herself from Remus' warm hold, smiling crookedly and whispering, "I think I need to go and cheer someone up..."  
His puzzled expression turned to a smile much like her own when he saw whom she meant, and he nodded. "Good luck, have fun."  
She tossed a toothy grin and a wink over her shoulder. "As always..."  
Severus was glaring at the goblet that sat next to him, wishing he could make himself lift it enough times to forget his troubles at least temporarily, when something tapped his head.  
He looked up in anger, ready to shout an accusation, when he found that his glare focused upon a pair of bright blue puppy-dog eyes. "Sevvie, I know you said all was forgiven not forgotten, but I've been simply dying to dance with you all evening. Please, come and give me at least one of those famous Slytherin grooves..."  
He had been about to comment on the lack of amusement in her practical joke, when she grabbed each of his wrists, and showing surprising strength, hauled him to his feet.  
"Come on, this is one of my favourites!" Sephine pulled him to the dance-floor, not letting go for an instant, lest he escape back to his depression-filled corner.  
"Sephine, this isn't funny." he growled.  
"It's not supposed to be. I just wanted a dance."  
"Don't lie, I can see Lupin and Black laughing over there."  
Sephine craned her neck to see Remus and the black dog, and made a noise of irritation. "Honestly. I can't trust either of them! But I can trust you, Severus Snape, to cheer up a little and act in an adult way towards those immature little boys, can't I?"  
"What? Sephine...what do you mean?"  
"I mean stop sulking and live a little! You have no idea how boring it was trying to forget everything before starting anew...I'm surprised I didn't end up in a mental institute with the confusion of it all. Just forgive and forget. But don't forget everything. Remember this." She pressed the wizard photo of Dumbledore's guards into his hand and gently kissed him on the cheek, drawing some colour from his usually pallid face. "I missed you, Sevvie."  
Sephine gave him one last sincere smile, then melted into the crowds, some of which stared in astonishment at her and, or Severus.  
  
* * *  
  
"You gave him my photo?!" Sirius yelped and gave her a hurt look.  
"Oh for goodness sake, Padfoot, you have about five copies of that thing!" Remus laughed.  
Sephine gave him a mock-reproachful look, "Five? Why on earth do you have that many?"  
"I--"  
"So he can slip them under the doors of unsuspecting Aurors, now go on! Dumbledore's waiting!" He shooed her into the corridor, catching her and giving her a kiss before sending her on giggling and saying, "All right, all right, I'm going!"  
Dumbledore was smiling and holding a piece of new-looking parchment when she entered his office. A Ministry owl sat on his desk, its orange eyes fixed in shock on Fawkes, who appeared to be attempting a conversation with it.  
"Good news, Sephine - they have agreed. You are no longer in service of the Ministry of Magic. You are an honorary member of the Hogwarts staff for as long as you choose."  
She laughed, and at that moment could have flung her arms around the old man. "Oh thank you, thank you, Headmaster! This means so much to me, I-- "  
He held a hand up gently to silence her. "No. Thank you, Sephine. You have dealt magnificently with your memories, and have become the wonderful person you should have been, had that fateful night not occurred. And you seem to have softened that ugly exterior of Severus Snape. Soon, no doubt, we shall have the true Potions Master revealed...but one challenge at a time, eh? Now here. Take this parchment and treasure it, for it is essentially your passport to a slightly more normal life...if there is such a thing."  
Sephine took it and grinned. "I'm hoping I won't make such a mess of my second shot at it."  
  
* * * 


	7. Extra songfic tiein

Author's note: This is a rather melodramatic and foolish little Auror tie- in I wrote as a songfic to go with 'Kissing You' by Des Ree, from Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo + Juliet. It's Remus' PoV; he's in the healing room alone, believing Sephine to be dead and regretting not telling her something.  
  
Originally it was going to be post-OOTP with Remus remembering Sirius. However there was no way to do that with this song without it becoming uber- slash, something I do not believe Remus/Sirius share. ^^ I've wanted to do a songfic ever since reading Amazing Grace by Tuppence. Or whatever Trins calls herself now. It's a Pansy/Draco songfic and I thought it was so clever and so wonderful when I read it! Mine's just turned out a bit soppy and silly really though. Some rather elevated language as well – that's what comes of reading Jane Eyre just before bedtime...  
  
***  
  
Pride can stand a thousand trials  
  
But it cannot stand two deaths in a single night. Youthful pride...banished with a swath of green light. Never to return.  
  
The strong will never fall Strong...she was so strong I thought – so much stronger than I. How I wished to be as strong as her. And yet now I see how weak, how weak we all are. She no less than the rest of us with our human frailties.  
  
But watching stars without you When she pushed me away, left me to save James and Lily. And I lay there unable to move from the fear that she'd leave me, as I saw the night sky blur overhead with tears that I could not believe were my own.  
  
My soul cries. Cries? Cries—nay it howls. Like the wolf that took her from me. If only I'd told her, if only she'd known, we would not have been singled out like this, she wouldn't have left me to sacrifice herself.  
  
Heaving heart is full of pain And my heart beats so quickly as I lie here, my passionate thoughts stirring it with such emotion that it dives and swoops at its restraints, longing to be free, punishing me as I have punished it over the years.  
  
Oh, oh, the aching. I can't bear the knowledge that she is gone. I can't bear the pain of my heart crashing against my ribs. I can't bear the silence of this room, the stark, clean smell. I can't bear being here.  
  
Cause I'm kissing you, oh  
  
I'm kissing you, oh.  
  
Touch me dear, pure and true My cheeks tingle with remembrance of that last touch, and I raise a hand, wondering if the blood and tears that she stroked my face with remain...a last reminder? No, they have been thoughtfully removed with a sterile cloth.  
  
Gift to me forever. Forever could have been her, with me, helping me. But forever is now lying here, chasing my pains and willing the past to change.  
  
Cause I'm kissing you, oh  
  
I'm kissing you, oh  
  
But where are you now? Where indeed have you gone? You have left me answerless, unable to apologise, unable to tell you just how much you meant to me.  
  
Where are you now? Do you wait for me somewhere? Beyond some hidden veil, where one day I may fall to my knees before you and beg forgiveness? Or have you turned your back on my mortal shames and I...?  
  
Cause I'm kissing you  
  
I'm kissing you, oh! 


End file.
